You're the Reason
by 0myao
Summary: He always knew that he'd fall second to Ulrich Stern, but being the stubborn boy that he was, William Dunbar never gave up. Slowly but surely, he would make his way into her heart.


A/N: I decided to write this story because, well, William practically gets no love, from fans nor the characters. I get why though, Yumi and Ulrich are nice together I suppose... But seriously, he even helped try to get the two together.

Anyway, to summarize, this basically tells the story of what would have happened if William had never been possessed, with some pairings on the side. Shows various flashbacks, but the story starts around the episode "Xana's Kiss," but it does not necessarily follow the storyline. But you know, it's under William and Yumi for a reason.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, if I did, this pairing probably would have happened. Code Lyoko belongs to MoonScoop.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Between Love &amp; Friendship<strong>

""

"_Have you been crazy about Yumi for a long time?" Elizabeth, better known as Sissi, inquired. She turned her face toward William with a smirk on her face, hoping to get a reaction from him. She knew that the ninth grader was infatuated with her, it wasn't that hard to figure out._

_In return, William watched Yumi gracefully diving off of the diving board with a starstruck expression. His face showed that he was completely captivated by the Japanese girl. As soon as she disappeared beneath the water, he turned his head toward the other girl, with certain expression on his face. "Forever..."_

"_You've only been here for a few months." Sissi stated flatly. It was true, William had only known Yumi since moving to Kadic a while back. _

"_Don't you believe in destiny? With a capital D?" William replied with a passion in his voice, explaining the source of his infatuation for the girl, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Sissi, who didn't believe in that, turned towards Yumi's direction in the pool and crossed her arms. Despite that William continued on, "two people who've never met, who are made for each other?" Yes, William believed that that existed, but deep down he believed that it was Ulrich he was talking about, and not him. Sure, Yumi and Ulrich have known each other for the longest time, but he knew he had no chance._

"_No, I'm not really into fairytales or cheap-magazine style romance stories." Sissi explained. Truthfully, at one point in time, she did believe in them. At least, that was until Yumi came into her life. At this point, all she wanted was for Ulrich to just be with her, none of the cheesy stuff mattered to her anymore. "I've had a crush on Ulrich since elementary school. I want to go out with him. That's all there is to it." _

"_If it weren't for that stuck up Yumi I'd..." Before she continued, Yumi resurfaced, flipping her hair in the process._

"_Huh, if it weren't for that big shot Ulrich I'd..." William said in a similar tone, but unlike Sissi, his voice expressed more restraint and acceptance._

_With that, the pair looked toward each other with a faint smile, understanding evident in their face, knowing the feeling of unrequited love._

_""_

"_You're my problem!" Ulrich said with irritation, giving the older boy the best glare he could give. He was looking toward William Dunbar, the ninth grader, and rival in love, who was standing at the front of his bedroom door._

"_Uh uh, no, that'd be too easy. Let me tell you what's wrong around here." William said as he slowly approached Ulrich's bed, returning the glare. "My being around Yumi forces you to ask yourself a question. A tough question that you cannot answer."_

_Ulrich just continued his glare, not replying, but definitely listened to what William was saying._

_When William was directly in front of Ulrich, he pointed his finger accusingly at him and continued. "Here's some friendly advice, go talk to Yumi. _From the heart._" _

_With that, he turned his back toward Ulrich, heading back to where he was originally. But not before giving Ulrich a warning, and a declaration, "Or else I will." Stating how serious he was when it came to his affection for Yumi. With that, he stormed out of the room._

_He himself did not know why he was helping Ulrich. Maybe it was because he knew that the odds off them becoming a couple were minimal. Or maybe it because he loved Yumi so much that he wanted her to be happy. Even if it wasn't with him. Either way, it didn't matter, because none of that would change anything. He would still be, and always would be, second place to Ulrich Stern._

_""_

"_William, what are you doing here, you crazy?" Yumi asked, both with worry and disappointment found in her voice when she saw William waiting in front of the gate to her house. Her face was evident with disdain. Yumi quickly swerved past William, who was leaning his back toward the wall, trying to open the gate to her house, turning her back toward him. William wasn't sure whether the disappointment was for his behavior, or the fact that she was expecting something, or rather someone, else. _

_William turned around so that he was facing Yumi. "Yes... I told you I was." William said, dead seriousness in his voice. His fingers were tapping the bars of the gate to Yumi's house in order to avert Yumi's attention to what he was saying._

_William cupped Yumi's face in his hand, and turned it towards him. Her face fit so perfectly in his hand, at least, in his mind it did. To this, Yumi gave William a frightened look. He gave her a confident smile and said, "I go totally crazy when I like a girl." _

_He closed his eyes, reached in, hoping to give Yumi a kiss. "No! Wait! I'm sorry, I...I'm just confused." She rambled, barely being able to form a proper sentence. Just as he expected, before his face met contact with her, she ducked below him and swerved right out of his grasp. _

_He turned his head to look at the girl with a straight face. Her face, unlike his, expressed nervousness and embarrassment. She didn't even flush. He knew that the girl he loved would reject him, push him away. All for him... "It's Ulrich, isn't it?" His voice spoke out in an accusing tone, trying to restrain his anger and jealousy for the boy. His heart ached just thinking of it. _

_Avoiding all visual contact of him, she forced out a whisper. "Good night..." and ran off into the safety of her house. _

_All he could do was give a sulky expression to the back of her figure as she shut her door. He let out an exasperated sigh, and dropped his head in defeat._

_""_

'_What about Ulrich?' _Was all that crossed William's mind as he stood in the courtyard of Kadic academy. Sure, he hoped that that was him, but he knew Ulrich had a bigger chance than him, that didn't mean he would give up though.

Next to the vending machines, he saw Yumi kissing another boy, a boy who wasn't Ulrich. His hand gripped on to his book bag harder than before, trying to conceal his jealousy for that boy. What was his name again? Matthias? Never in his life would he have thought that he'd wish to be him. Now he had even more competition.

'_Maybe Ulrich knows about this.'_

He didn't like the thought of going to him for assurance, but at this point he had no choice. With new found determination, he stormed off, hoping to cross Ulrich at some point.

From a distance, he saw a familiar figure in black walking casually past the lunchroom into another building. It wasn't who he was hoping to see, but it was close enough. His eyes squinted accusingly. _'Yumi...'_

Yumi halted to a stop as soon as she felt a hand grab her soldier. She turned around to face the originator, and met the face of none other than the almighty William Dunbar, except this time, unlike his usual smirk, his face held disdain, a face that she didn't think he could give her.

Normally, William was an arrogant jerk who thought too highly of himself, he would never let anyone tell him what to do. He was a wild spirit. But for Yumi, he'd be willing to risk all that for her. It was out of character for him, but like he said, love makes people crazy. And there was no doubt about it, William was a love-struck fool.

"William?" She gave William a curious look, genuinely wondering what was up with the boy.

"You should know what this is about Yumi. What about Ulrich huh?" William spoke in a dead tone, both his hands now firmly gripping her shoulders. The tone worried Yumi, but the fact that it was William talking annoyed her.

"Look William, I have no idea what you're talking about. And what about Ulrich?" She asked irritatedly. Despite it all, William grabbed her attention the moment the problem concerned Ulrich, tossing aside the thought that this could be another one of William's speeches talking about how jealous Ulrich was.

Yumi weakly grabbed a hold of William's bicep, and weakly attempted to pry his arm off of her shoulder. Instead of putting up a fight, William simply allowed his arms to go limp. His face held the same hard expression as when he walked in, but just turned his back towards Yumi. He never treated Yumi that coldly. "Whatever Yumi, all I'm saying is... get your priorities straight. Not even Ulrich will wait forever."

With that, William walked out of the building heading off to his next class, leaving a flabbergasted and clueless Yumi behind.

* * *

><p>AN: If anyone is wondering what those extra quotations were, they were the only symbols that would pop up as a divider, so if you were wondering, that's what it was. This chapter is pretty K for a rating, but it's T for later reasons. Sorry I cut it short, and sorry I made William really OOC. This was the best point to cut it off for a chapter, and William's behavior should be explained later on. I hope you guys review, express you opinion!


End file.
